In recent years, weightlifting has become a popular and useful means of physical exercise, not only for bodybuilders, but also athletes involved in man other sports. These include professional and college athletes who use weightlifting exercises for building strength and for physical conditioning. Football and basketball players and track and field athletes perform a variety of weightlifting exercises to keep in top shape. Football players especially use certain specific weightlifting exercises to build mass as well as strength. With the recent emphasis on weightlifting as a useful means of exercise and physical conditioning, a variety of lifting devices have been developed for isolating the effects that the weightlifting has on the body so as to magnify the intensity of each exercise. In this way, strength or mass can be developed for the particular muscle groups more effectively and in a shorter amount of time.
One such weightlifting device is used by weightlifters performing arm exercises for the biceps, such as curls. This device includes a curved rigid bar made of metal or plastic which fits over the weightlifter's chest. The bar is held in place by an adjustable neck band. The ends of the bar extend outwardly from opposite sides of the body, behind the elbows. The back portions of the weightlifter's arms (the triceps regions of the upper arms) rest against the ends of the rigid bar. The ends of the bar can have a slight curvature to conform to the back of the arms to hold them in place, spaced apart from the sides of the body during use. When performing weightlifting exercises such as curls, the ends of the rigid bar act as a restraint to resist the forces applied during the exercise. This device attempts to keep the arms in place and eliminate cheating which can occur if the elbows drift away from the sides of the body and thereby make it easier to lift the weight. By preventing cheating, the effect of the lifting exercise is isolated on the biceps and helps develop these muscles faster. These previous arm locking devices suffer from several disadvantages. The wide rigid bar which fits over the lifter's chest digs into the chest when the ends of the bar resist the force of the weight during use. This causes painful pinching of the skin and uncomfortable pressures on the front of the chest. In addition, the lifter's arms often are not constantly held in place on the ends of the rigid bar. There is a tendency for the elbows to move outwardly when performing weightlifting exercises such as curls, and they can slip off the ends of the bar. This device also is not designed well for use by women.
The present invention provides an arm locking device for weightlifters which overcomes the disadvantages of the prior arm locking device and which also provides additional improvements in accomplishing the desired results of certain arm exercises.